The £3 miracle jab for snorers (and it's available on the NHS)

Take a deep breath: Some will go to any lengths to stop their partner snoring

When David Bulman and his fiancée moved in to their new home they were looking forward to spending more time together. However, a problem soon erupted to spoil their domestic tranquillity: his chronic snoring.

Indeed, it was so bad that within a matter of weeks David was banished to the spare room.

The 38-year-old from Southport admits: 'If there is ever a passion killer, it is snoring. I had no idea I had a problem.

'But almost on our first morning together, she moaned that I had kept her up all night. I felt awful.

'After that, night after night, she would prod me awake, telling me I was keeping her up. I would apologise, fall asleep and start snoring again straight away. We were permanently tired and tetchy, which led to rows. So I moved into the spare room, for both our sakes.'

The couple's plight was far from unique. According to the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association there are approximately 15million snorers in the UK.

And while it is seen as a minor - even amusing - affliction, the impact on health is no joke. Studies have found the resulting sleep deprivation increases the risk of road accidents, depression, high blood pressure and stroke - in both partners.

The distinctive rumbling sound of snoring is produced when the muscles in the nose, mouth and throat relax during sleep. This can restrict air flow, causing the soft palate (the back of the roof of the mouth), and other tissues in the mouth, nose and throat to vibrate.

There are a variety of factors that exacerbate the problem, including sleeping position, being overweight, having a blocked nose, or physical features such as a large soft palate or long uvula (the bit of tissue that hangs down at the back of your mouth).

Alcohol can also exacerbate snoring, as it travels to all areas of the body and slows the brain's responses, causing the muscles to relax even more than normal during a night's sleep. The added relaxation of the musculature causes the oropharynx to collapse more readily causing further snoring.

Additionally, alcohol can induce obstructive sleep apnoea (where breathing stops for short periods during sleep) in individuals who are otherwise just snorers. It also causes nasal airway irritation and congestion that increases the airway resistance when breathing.

David, who works in engineering, tried an array of 'snore cure' nasal sprays, mouthwashes, and even adhesive strips across his nose to help keep his nostrils open at night, but nothing helped.

Relief: David Bulman thinks the jab cured him

'It really started taking a toll on our relationship,' says David. 'This one thing that seemed so stupid and insignificant was having a huge negative impact.'

Determined to put an end to their separate sleeping arrangements, in March 2007 David was referred by his GP to Dr Hadi Al-Jassim, an ear nose and throat consultant at Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust. Dr Al-Jassim explains: 'More than 80 per cent of patients snore because of vibrations of the soft palate, which was what seemed to be the cause in David's case.

'In such patients, the treatment involves procedures to scar the soft palate - this stiffens it, stopping the vibrations.

'The problem is that surgery usually involves removing part of the soft palate. This is often a very painful procedure with long recovery times, and carrying the usual risks of anaesthetic and surgery.'

David was offered snoreplasty, a pioneering new snoring jab which is given under local anaesthetic and costs just £3.

'It is an easy and quick alternative to surgery - and we've had no reported major side effects in around 400 cases,' says Dr Al-Jassim. 'It involves injecting a chemical called sodium tetradecyl sulphate into the soft palate. This causes inflammation, which then heals into a tough scar.'

First, Dr Al-Jassim sprays a numbing solution into the back of a patient's throat, before then administering a syringe of local anaesthetic. The sodium tetradecyl sulphate is then injected into the patient's soft palate. David had one injection in October 2007.

'It wasn't very pleasant but I didn't feel any pain,' he recalls. 'It was all over in a few minutes and I went straight back to work.

'Once the numbness wore off, it felt a bit tender, like a sore throat. But the doctor had given me numbing mouthwash, which helped. The "sore throat" lasted about a week, and afterwards I felt completely fine. Following the jab, my fiancee said my snoring was better but not perfect.'

Dr Al-Jassim believes that patients may need more than one injection - it can be given up to three times in 12 months while the treatment will last for around a year. When needed, patients can then have further jabs.

David returned for a second injection in January 2008, with positive results. 'I was sleeping back in the bedroom a couple of weeks later and, thankfully, she said I was cured,' he says. 'Sadly we're no longer together but I'm told that I don't snore at all now, which is fantastic.'

'In my clinic, the rate of palatal surgery has dropped by 85 per cent because patients are opting for the injection. We've found it works on about 70 per cent of patients. The remaining 30 per cent will need further investigations and there are surgical alternatives.